Trademark registration Latvia

Trademark rights are acquired in Latvia by the first person or company to use the trademark in this territory. Although it is not mandatory to register a trademark in Latvia, it is strongly recommended to be able to clearly prove ownership. This prevents possible conflicts in the future and you can protect your brand against infringement. If you want to register a trademark in Latvia, it does not have to be in use yet. Multi-class registration is possible in Latvia.

Any character or combination of characters that can be displayed and that distinguishes the goods or services that you wish to offer at a commercial level can be registered as a trademark in Latvia. You can think of words, images, drawings, color shades, color combinations, three-dimensional shapes, holograms and multimedia, but also specific things such as sound or light signals.

Numerous entrepreneurs create a combined trademark for their product or service. That is, this trademark consists not only of word elements or figurative elements, but of a combination thereof. While this allows you to market your product or service even more distinctively, you should be aware of what this means for trademark protection. This only applies to the exact combination of the elements that make up the trademark.

In practice, this means that a third party can use one of the separate elements of your trademark. Only when he or she intends to do this for the purpose of offering products or services that are very similar to what you are offering, does the objection have a chance of success. To avoid such a procedure, it is best to file a separate application for trademark protection for the individual elements of your trademark if you intend to use them for commercial purposes.

Do you want to register a trademark in Latvia? The application and registration procedure generally takes ten to twelve months, provided no additional information is requested and no opposition takes place within the possible period. After submitting the necessary documents, it takes four to five months before you receive an official confirmation of receipt. The patent office will then take up to three months to review your application. If this results in a positive decision, you will be asked to pay the registration fee and your application will be published in the official commercial gazette.

After publication in the trade gazette, third parties are given three months to lodge an objection. If you decide to file a trademark in Latvia via the international route (the Madrid system), the objection period will even last four months. In case of a successful registration procedure, trademark protection applies from the date of publication in the trade gazette. Trademark protection is initially valid for five years. When renewed, trademark protection is issued for ten years. Partly because of the length of the procedure, guidance by a trademark specialist is recommended.